Worldwide Tape Drive 2011–2015 Forecast Update and 2010 Vendor Shares

This IDC update analyzes and summarizes the market trends in the tape drive industry and its vendors, and it provides actual quarterly shipment data for 2005-2010. The update covers tape drive forecasts for revenue, shipment volume, and average sales values (ASVs) for 2011-2015 and summarizes various metrics (e.g., capacity, ASVs, and vendor shares) specific to each market segment. Finally, this update offers near-term and long-term expectations for demand, vendor execution, and industry dynamics, as well as suggested strategies for industry participants.

"IDC expects that removable disk backup products will likely put additional pressure on tape drives, particularly in the entry and low-end markets. Additionally, we expect server and storage virtualization and purpose-built backup appliances will put additional pressure on midrange and enterprise tape drives. However, midrange and enterprise tape drives are increasingly deployed in tape libraries and automation. We believe midrange and enterprise tape drives integrated in automation will be well suited to deep archive and tiered storage applications," said Robert Amatruda, research director, Data Protection and Recovery, at IDC.